Hi Folks,
In four weeks I'll be competing at Ironman Austria. I've done this race a number of times but never before used power as a guide on the bike.
Details:
- I have a Stages Power meter and Garmin Edge 510. (I'm on a BMC TM01 if you like all the details.)
Background
- I'm a 56 yr old age grouper. My FTP is 232 (10 months of training with power using Erg Videos, Computrainer and real rides.)
- my PB at Austria is about a 13:20 (I had a 6 hr bike (about 30kph avg) on the last race but ended up walking about 1/2 the marathon.)
- I'm the type of guy who tends to go out too fast and burns it all out way before the end. So I'm determined to develop the discipline to keep patient and steady on the bike and save "the beans in the bank" for the run (my marathon (not Ironman) PB is about a 3:30)
Questions:
- current literature says to maintain steady state (minimize bike surges) and aim for about a 60%FTP for a guy with my bike times. I was thinking of a window display of %FTP, average FTP, 30 sec Power and cadence. Does this seem reasonable? Are there better displays to use? Eg I've seen some of you use the lap counter function.
- I have read a lot about normalized power and average power and IF. ratios of 1.05 and less. I'm not certain if this is something I can employ during the race or just to evaluate afterwards.
As I said, the Ironman is just a few weeks away so I'd appreciate any suggestions or things I may be overlooking. I always approach Ironman as a chance to be the best I can be, and I hope that using power as a metric will allow me to have a great race. Thanks in advance.
In four weeks I'll be competing at Ironman Austria. I've done this race a number of times but never before used power as a guide on the bike.
Details:
- I have a Stages Power meter and Garmin Edge 510. (I'm on a BMC TM01 if you like all the details.)
Background
- I'm a 56 yr old age grouper. My FTP is 232 (10 months of training with power using Erg Videos, Computrainer and real rides.)
- my PB at Austria is about a 13:20 (I had a 6 hr bike (about 30kph avg) on the last race but ended up walking about 1/2 the marathon.)
- I'm the type of guy who tends to go out too fast and burns it all out way before the end. So I'm determined to develop the discipline to keep patient and steady on the bike and save "the beans in the bank" for the run (my marathon (not Ironman) PB is about a 3:30)
Questions:
- current literature says to maintain steady state (minimize bike surges) and aim for about a 60%FTP for a guy with my bike times. I was thinking of a window display of %FTP, average FTP, 30 sec Power and cadence. Does this seem reasonable? Are there better displays to use? Eg I've seen some of you use the lap counter function.
- I have read a lot about normalized power and average power and IF. ratios of 1.05 and less. I'm not certain if this is something I can employ during the race or just to evaluate afterwards.
As I said, the Ironman is just a few weeks away so I'd appreciate any suggestions or things I may be overlooking. I always approach Ironman as a chance to be the best I can be, and I hope that using power as a metric will allow me to have a great race. Thanks in advance.